Ever been the subject of a Safety Memo?

[DeaconKC]

Well, I can honestly say I have been.

Back in the 1990s I worked at one of the most violent Maximum Security prisons in the Country. I had been pulled out of my former assignment in the East Cellhouse due to the Latin Kings putting a "hit" out on me, so they stuck me in a tower overlooking East House. As a yard line was coming in one day, a fight between inmates broke out in a rather confined area. Our officers were vulnerable, so I fired a warning shot from a Mini 14 to break up the fight. But, the only place to put the shot without hitting someone was into a trash dumpster next to them. The guys on the gound said it was a fantastic noise and the cons all hit the deck and the fight was over. The cons were then cuffed up or returned to the cellhouse [whichever was appropriate] and once everything was back in order, I did my Incident Report [required anytime a shot was fired].

A few minutes later, the Shift Commander calls me and says "Collier, please tell me you didn't do what you said in the report?" I was like "Um, yessir, but it was a good shot." He then tells me the dumpsters don't belong to the prison, but a private company! Turns out I actually got two of them, as the shot went through the first one, hitting the one behind it as well! Well, it took about 15 minutes before everyone working there had heard about this and everyone got a good chuckle.

Now, every job in a prison has what they call a Post Description, which defines duties of said position [they also include the phrase "other duties as assigned/needed]. The next morning at Roll Call, they announce a change to all Tower and Catwalk Post Descriptions to include the instructions "Do not shoot the dumpsters!" I then was given a round of applause for my "donation".

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

Woulda/Shoulda backseat drivers give me a pain.

I think the shot into the dumpster was the way to go; especially since the round went through one and struck the other.

(FMJ round?) 

Should have been an expanding point and, since your fellow officers were in danger and you mustn't/shouldn't shoot the dumpsters, then perhaps the dumbsters???

[Badlands Bob #61228]

I'm responsible for an entire lesson plan in the Police Academy about the use of alternative impact weapons.  

[DeaconKC]

Oh, my Shift Commander was fine with the shot, crud, our prison was the last stop for Illinois for decades. We fired more shots than all the rest of IDOC combined. Menard Correctional Center is still one of the most violent prisons in the country.

This is East House:

 

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

I was responsible for a Safety Stand Down for my squadron. 

[Subdeacon Joe]

2 hours ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said:

alternative impact weapons.  

 

Could you maybe elaborate before my brain melts down try to come up with " alternatives?"

[DeaconKC]

7 minutes ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

 

Could you maybe elaborate before my brain melts down try to come up with " alternatives?"

Maglite flashlights, etc

[Badlands Bob #61228]

1 hour ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

 

Could you maybe elaborate before my brain melts down try to come up with " alternatives?"

The primary impact weapon was the PR-24 or the ASP baton.   They spent lots of time training us how to use the PR-24 or ASP baton.  The Yes (Green) zones and the No (Red) zones.  We had to fight politely.  For years, we could only have plastic flashlights.  Then about 1990, a new Chief came to the department and issued Maglites, bought K9's and we went to semiauto pistols.  I hadn't been through my first set of batteries before I got into a fight and clubbed some drunk with my "County Issued" flashlight.  Here comes the alternative impact training and policy changes with the Green zones and Red zones.....for all 700+ sworn.

[Rip Snorter]

Before all the heavy, aluminum Mag Lights, what was popular were 3 D cell Eveready.  I can recall seeing them come apart on impact, batteries, reflectors and lenses flying. 

[Pat Riot]

When I first went to work in LA on their very first light rail line I was a mainline tech. I rescued, repaired, reset faulty trains and their systems. This job took me into all places in and around LA that movies are made of…gangster and ghetto movies. 

For the most part if you’re in a really bad part of town but you are there to do a job people don’t really mess with you. They’ll talk smack and you can get away with giving right back but you had better know when yo shut up and move on. 
Anyway, we couldn’t arm ourselves. We were “public servants”. We weren’t allowed, but I could carry tools in a tool bag. I found a screwdriver at Harbor Freight that was about 20” long. The shank was about 3/4” thick and square. The flat tip was about 5/8” wide and nearly an 1/8” thick until it must have kept rubbing on something in the truck and got sharp. The handle of this thing was about 8”long and hollow in the center about half way from the rear snd it had a metal sleeve in the hollow part that could accommodate a 1/2” drive ratchet. To keep bugs and stuff out of the hollow part with the metal sleeve I filled it with molten lead. 
This thing was a tool. It was heavy from either end and could be considered a weapon. It rode on top of my tool bag as it wouldn’t fit inside. I would lay it on top between the strap handles and when I carried the bag the “screwdriver” looked like it belonged there. 
One day at Compton station a guy attacked me. I attacked him back with my “tool”. One whack with my screwdriver and down he went. This occurred while two LA Sheriff’s Deputies looked on. They called for paramedics and cut me loose to continue keeping the trains running. 
Apparently these guys went back to their duty station and told all their buddies about the train mechanic that clobbered some dude and sent him to the hospital. 
That information got to management. 
There was a safety meeting a few days later outlining what tools were and were not allowed on the mainline. My big screwdriver wasn’t on the list. I never got called out on the episode directly, but I knew they knew from all the sideways looks and half smirks from the supervisors and management. 
Every day my tool bag was inspected. And every day “we” were reminded that tools that could be used as weapons were not allowed. 

I won’t go into what I carried after that. It sure wasn’t a tool and it sure wasn’t legal. These buttheads didn’t really care that we worked in an unsafe environment. I did what I thought I needed to do to remain safe and provide for my family. 

[Imis Twohofon,SASS # 46646]

This wasnt at work, rather, it happened at the range. I was showing Jersey Bratt some pyrotechnic ammo when she mentioned that she loved fireworks. The next thing you know I had loaded and fired five rounds of 125 grn rnfp with roman candle balls. Followed by five fires in the freshly seeded and straw covered berm. After we got the fire put out our long-suffering Pres told us all "no more pyro loads". That was the first day we met. I sure do know how to show a girl a good time. We are still together twelve years later.

 

Imis

[Sedalia Dave]

On 3/30/2023 at 2:13 PM, Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 said:

I was responsible for a Safety Stand Down for my squadron. 

 

Details please.

[Sedalia Dave]

One of the clubs I shoot at has in their safety briefing several things that make you go ???

 

The one I can currently recall is about not using spent primers in place of shot in your shells. Apparently they ricochet really badly.

 

I'll get a copy at the next match.

 

 

[Eyesa Horg]

Now that's different!

[Chantry]

Not yet, but I remain hopeful!   

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

1 hour ago, Sedalia Dave said:

 

Details please.

(Sigh, I knew somebody would ask.) I was stationed at NAS South Weymouth Ma. It was a Marine Corps Reserve A4 Squadron. I was an Aviation Ordnanceman. To get to the cockpit of the A/C, we had a habit of hopping onto the end of the wing, walking the length of the wing, and stepping onto a small step to access the cockpit. We weren't supposed to, but we did. Not an excuse, just a fact that we had a bad habit. 

I had taken to working a second job at a gas station to make some extra money, as it seemed that there was always too much month at the end of the money. Between the two jobs, I was TIRED. 

So I'm in the Ordnance Shop, and a Flightline guy comes in and says a pilot needs one of us on the flightline. I grab my PPE, hop up onto the wing, walk up to he cockpit, step on the step, not even thinking that the A/C engine was ON. Did I mention the this step was about 2 ft. from the jet engine intake? We did this every day, but NEVER with the A/C running. The engine pulled me off balance just a bit, causing me to grab onto the cockpit to keep from losing my balance. At the very least I would have fallen about 7 ft. to the ground, and I could have been sucked into the engine. 

Well, the pilot shut down the engine, they had to to an inspection of the engine to make sure nothing from me HAD got sucked into it, and I quite deservedly got my butt chewed out but good. And 2 days later, the whole squadron had a Safety Stand Down. Every shop had a presentation, and every presentation mentioned me. 

[Eyesa Horg]

"Risks and Consequences" 

[watab kid]

no but this was interesting , my neighbor was in a similar situation , he couldn't speak of a lot of his experiences but he was recently separated , not from his wife - his job , he did have some interesting stories and some were disgusting , 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Nobody is totally useless, you can always serve as a bad example.

[PowderRiverCowboy]

Yes , but your Security Clearance isnt high enough  

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

On 3/30/2023 at 1:49 PM, DeaconKC said:

Maglite flashlights, etc

Maglights work well on pit bulls, too.

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

29 minutes ago, PowderRiverCowboy said:

Yes , but your Security Clearance isnt high enough  

Yes it is.

[PowderRiverCowboy]

5 minutes ago, Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 said:

Yes it is.

 Unless you are above a Active TS SAP  nope it isnt even that Mission is not for public knowledge .

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

1 hour ago, PowderRiverCowboy said:

 Unless you are above a Active TS SAP  nope it isnt even that Mission is not for public knowledge .

I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.

[Calamity Kris]

No but I'm the subject of an HR bulletin.......

 

One of the last companies I worked for had layoffs coming.  I was on the verge of retiring and the boss knew it.  She lied about the date of the layoff announcement so I would retire first.  I went along all fat dumb and happy until a volunteer called me about my retirement benefits.  She searched the rolls and couldn't find my name anywhere.  She finally found my name on the layoff list.  When I contacted HR about my benefits and severance, their response was too bad, you retired first.  You have no severance package.  I argued that I was lied to in order to make me retire.  HR said too bad.  We got into quite a shouting match over the phone.  After all that, the retirement volunteers no longer get to see the layoff lists.  If your name isn't on the retiree list, you have to call HR yourself.

[PowderRiverCowboy]

1 hour ago, Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 said:

I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.

 Naw , Spooks would come visit

 

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

46 minutes ago, PowderRiverCowboy said:

 Naw , Spooks would come visit

 

Yes, we would.

[Eyesa Horg]

1 hour ago, Calamity Kris said:

No but I'm the subject of an HR bulletin.......

 

One of the last companies I worked for had layoffs coming.  I was on the verge of retiring and the boss knew it.  She lied about the date of the layoff announcement so I would retire first.  I went along all fat dumb and happy until a volunteer called me about my retirement benefits.  She searched the rolls and couldn't find my name anywhere.  She finally found my name on the layoff list.  When I contacted HR about my benefits and severance, their response was too bad, you retired first.  You have no severance package.  I argued that I was lied to in order to make me retire.  HR said too bad.  We got into quite a shouting match over the phone.  After all that, the retirement volunteers no longer get to see the layoff lists.  If your name isn't on the retiree list, you have to call HR yourself.

I got screwed out of $150K in my retirement pension because of getting misled by HR to keep there for 3 extra month beyond my picked end date! Lawyer said he could possibly win a litigation, but that he would get 50K, that I would have to come up with as I couldn't pay him out of pension funds. Grump. They care for nobody but themselves.

[Pulp, SASS#28319]

At the paper mill I retired from a co-worker acting kind of dumb with a banana ended up having to write an SOP on how to properly eat a banana. You did not bite the banana, you had to break off a piece with your hands and then eat it.